The Internet and the Death of Rovian Politics

Age has finally become an issue for John McCain. But the problem isn't the candidate's 72 years; it's the antediluvian approach of his campaign.

McCain is running a textbook Rovian race: fear-based, smear-based, anything goes. But it isn't working. The glitch in the well-oiled machine? The Internet.

"We are witnessing the end of Rovian politics," Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google told me. And YouTube, which Google bought in 2006 for $1.65 billion, is one of the causes of its demise.

Thanks to YouTube -- and blogging and instant fact-checking and viral emails -- it is getting harder and harder to get away with repeating brazen lies without paying a price, or to run under-the-radar smear campaigns without being exposed.

But the McCain campaign hasn't gotten the message, hence the blizzard of racist, alarmist, xenophobic, innuendo-laden accusations being splattered at Obama.

And it seems that the worse McCain is doing in the polls, the more his team is relying on the same gutter tactics. So over the next 15 days, look for the McCain campaign to become even uglier. That's what happens when following Rovian politics is your only strategy -- and Rovian politics isn't working.

McCain has stockpiled his campaign with Rove henchmen, including not one but three of the people responsible for the political mugging inflicted on him in 2000.

Just last week he brought on Warren Tompkins in an "unofficial" capacity to see how receptive North Carolina would be to some Rovian slime. After all, it's right next door to South Carolina, where in 2000 Tomkins and his buddies in the Bush campaign spread race-baiting rumors about McCain having an illegitimate black daughter (referring to McCain's adopted Bangladeshi daughter Bridget).

And those disgraceful robocalls that McCain is running? They were done with the help of Jeff Larson and his firm FLS-Connect -- the same firm that created the robocalls smearing McCain in 2000.

At the time, McCain's reaction to the attacks on him was: "I believe that there is a special place in hell for people like these."

His reaction now? I have a special place in my campaign for people like these!

So the Karl Rove specials keep coming. Obama and Ayers. Obama the Socialist. Obama and ACORN "destroying the fabric of democracy." Palin (herself the manifestation of Rovian decision-making) delineating which parts of "this great nation of ours" are "pro-American." (Interestingly, the sites of the 9/11 attacks didn't make the list.)

And, did you hear, Obama is also... black! And he wants to give your money to all the poor black people! McCain didn't come right out and say that, but it's surely what he insinuated in his radio address this weekend: "Barack Obama's tax plan would convert the IRS into a giant welfare agency." Somewhere, Karl Rove is smiling, Richard Nixon's southern strategy is waxing nostalgic, and John McCain's missing moral compass is getting steamed about John Lewis' evocation of the civil rights struggle.

But there is a diamond amidst all this dung: the lack of traction this Rovian politics is getting. It's as if Rove and his political arsonists keep lighting fires, only to see them doused by the powerful information spray the Internet has made possible.

The Internet has enabled the public to get to know candidates in a much fuller and more intimate way than in the old days (i.e. four years ago), when voters got to know them largely through 30-second campaign ads and quick sound bites chosen by TV news producers.

Compare that to the way over 6 million viewers (on YouTube alone) were able to watch the entirety of Obama's 37-minute speech on race -- or the thousands of other videos posted by the campaign and its supporters.

Back in the Dark Ages of 2004, when YouTube (and HuffPost, for that matter) didn't exist, a campaign could tell a brazen lie, and the media might call them on it. But if they kept repeating the lie again and again and again, the media would eventually let it go (see the Swiftboating of John Kerry). Traditional media like moving on to the next shiny thing. But bloggers love revisiting a story. So when Palin kept repeating her bridge to nowhere lie, bloggers kept calling her on it. Andrew Sullivan, for one, has made a cottage industry of calling Palin on her lies. And eventually, the truth filtered up and cost McCain credibility with his true base: journalists.

The Internet may make it easier to disseminate character smears, but it also makes it much less likely that these smears will stick.

As a result, the McCain campaign's insinuation-laden "Who is Barack Obama?" was rendered more comical than spooky. Who is Barack Obama? The guy we've been watching over and over and over during the last two years. We've seen him. We know him. And we can remind ourselves about him with a quick Google search and a mouse click.

Obama "has shown the same untroubled self-confidence day after day," and "over the past two years, Obama has clearly worn well with voters." Those are the words of David Brooks, who has gotten to know Obama just like the rest of us.

Four years ago, McCain's Rovian race-based appeals to our darker demons might have worked. This year, they are blowing up in McCain's face. And in the face of the entire GOP.

Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama as "a transformational figure" was powerful. But even more powerful was his withering indictment of the state of the Republican Party and the cancer of Rovian politics.

It was similar to the diagnosis of Christopher Buckley following his endorsement of Obama: "To paraphrase a real conservative, Ronald Reagan, I haven't left the Republican Party. It left me."

There are many other anti-Rove Republicans abandoning their party. I've had several Republican friends tell me privately what Powell and Buckley told the world publicly: that they're voting for Obama. Most of them not because they like Obama, but because they can't stand what Bush, Rove and now McCain and Palin have done to their party.

Rovian politics may or may not end up destroying the GOP. But, thanks to the Internet, with a bit of luck it will no longer have the power to befoul our democracy.

For those of you in the Baltimore area, I will be speaking at Goucher College today at 8 PM.

Comments

[Ranta]

You forgot one thing Arianna. It's money. Rarely in previous elections have Dem's been able to compete with Repub's when it comes to campaign contributions. The Internet makes it easy to send money.
Michelle Bachman spouts her vitriolic hate on Hardball and one week later her opponent has raised 1.4 million dollars.
If the necon's are able to get a hold of the Internet, just like the government , they will drown it in a bathtub. We must stay vigilant.

[quest44]

This time around more people are becoming involved in voting and learning about candidates than ever before. Oh you still have the crazy lady for McCain that was a parady on SNL who doesn't do her homework and says Obama is an Arab ,"which uncharacteristicly McCain actually told the truth and said no mame he's not ," but the average person today is looking for the truth and not just believe what a candidate or party tells them . I hope this is not only the end of the Rovian dirty politic's,I really hope its the end of this corrupt Republican party.

[AspenFreePress]

I don't know one Mexican who believes the current President of Mexico is the guy who actually won the election there. Wasn't his opponent ahead some twenty points in the polls? Rovian politics flourished during that election south of the border and the Bush candidate now is President . There was a dispute there, too, about recounting the votes or something, but of course the votes weren't recounted. Sound familiar? No matter the current polls, until the votes for President in the U.S. are in I won't believe the Bush machine which McCain represents will be thrown out of office. Like it or not, we may have those suckers for life. "You don't mess with Dubya."
Sterling Greenwood/Aspen Free Press

[Xiara]

John McCain has lost total control of his campaign - if he ever had any. The scary, really scary thing is if they do get elected, he will not be able to control Sarah Palin. I have read that she is trying to salvage her reputation now. I had an epiphany over the weekend. It is not him who is blaming Palin for the way things are going - it is actually PALIN who is turning on him!!!! I have never seen a ticket like this before and the no. 2 revolting against the no. 1 on the ticket.

How can any sane person even think of electing that pair anymore?

[IowaKid]

I know what you mean. This would be a very scary situation.

[bodo]

The Republicans should have learned from Hillary's loss, for her campaign also suffered from the same problem. While Obama relied heavily on the internet, she essentially ran a carbon copy of her husband's campaign of 16 years earlier, making no allowance for times having changed.

[RickCadena]

Dear Arianna:
Thank you for a superb article and for your blog site, the Huffington Post. It has been a beacon of light and enlightenment throughout this entire campaign. As a Mexico City based American Expatriate free-lance translator of financial documents from Spanish into English, the Huffington Post has been the ideal "reading" break during my work. It is a real shame that the Republican party has become so corrupt over the years, starting with Richard Nixon, going into high gear with Ronald Reagan, continuing in high gear with George Bush I, and the eventual crumbling with George Bush II. I think a civil war - ideological cleansing process is necessary to rid the Republican party of its extreme elements and become a more reasonable expression of conservatism.

Ever since 2000, I have always perceived the Republican Party as a clone of Mexico's PRI, which was in power via single party rule for 70 years. I could have sworn that the Republicans were taking diploma courses or attending seminars on how to maintain single party rule, regardless of how ruthless the methods were to stay in power. Karl Rove and the extreme views espoused by that extreme element of the Republican Party has to go the way of the trash can for the good of all Americans. I want my country back and have already sent my absentee ballot in for Obama. That is my two bits worth.

Arianna, once again, thank you very much.

[atrevei]

Yes, Internet really has been a game changer, Im using Instant messaging robots to stay up to date. For AOL there is a buddy called mybarackobama, and factcheckorg (seem to be down) and for msn/hotmail, [e-mail] and [e-mail] (this one is working).

mybarackobama (as well as the msn version) works like a rss reader and you can search events in your area by typing a zipcode, example: events 48203 or you can search by typing, search and a word, like: search biden.

Its a good way to check what's being said, without visiting the website

[boing007]

New GOP flyers to Jewish voters in Pennsylvania warn a vote for Obama will lead to another Holocaust.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/26/01013/199/326/642420

[clamperken]

Once again, Arianna,you've done a bangup job of explaining what the McCain / Palin handlers and GOP stratagists have either ignored or buried in the back of thier brain with self-denial. Which is to say that you can no longer spew out whatever nasty lies and accusations about your opponent without it being immediately fact-checked by millions of voters in real time. No longer do the big network news stations have the ability to sway voter opinion with selected soundbites and vague,30 second news reports. No, it's whole new world and I for one couldn't be happier. I am 51 and this is the first presidential election where I now feel truly informed about who these candidates are and what they stand for. Thank you and the internet for keeping democracy alive and well in America.
NOW THAT YOU PEOPLE ARE SO WELL INFORMED, GET OUT THERE AND VOTE !!!!!!!!!!!

[Rove]

Lets not be too hasty about this ok?

[DanmaxKL]

Arianna Huffington ,you are amazingly astute . You have hit the nail on the head,yet again.

[trying-to-be-objective]

I would love to see the intellectual Republicans break off and start a new party. I'm a Democrat, and I think our country benefits from quality discourse among people with different opinions and ideologies. But the neocon fringe is just as dangerous as the Islamic fundamental fringe. Extremists are by nature divisive.

The "Obama Republicans" should organize themselves, and let the neocons go the way of the Whigs.

[Stephen308]

The republican party is going to be forced to rediscover what real conservatives want. when they abandoned the conservative agenda for the corruption of Washington they destroyed their party.

Now the most interesting thing is going to be how much control does the "progressive" left really have over the process. It seems clear the Pelosi, Reid, and Obama are in the pocket of the far left but will the democratic party do as it has in the past and split and be as corrupt, ineffective, and big spending as.....well, as it has been the last two years?

[kiss01]

A HUGE THANK YOU to ARIANNA for the priceless and ceaseless contributions of Huffingtonpost in supporting Obama. Your clear, precise and spot-on exposition of truth of Obama's positive and honest campaign in stark contrast to the GUTTER tactics of McDirty/Failin(g). I know the job is not yet done, however, I just want to encourage the post and all its readers to relentlessly march forward until Nov 4th. I will then have the greatest of PLEASURE to share in the celebration of all our Success in installing Obama as POTUS with Huffingpost and with millions of Obama supporter both within and outside of America.
Go OBAMA! GO Huffingtonpost!

[topkatnc]

After I got home and read a few articles on the Huff I checked my e-mail and the National Republican Trust PAC has sent more nasty notes on OBAMA. One said " OBAMA not only wants to give social security to illegals he also wants to give them drivers licenses, free government medicad and health care, welfare benefits and even cheap in state college tutition. I have never heard OBAMA say anything about any of this so I take it to be a lie like every thing that they have sent me. Desperate people do desperate things and these repugs are going to do anything to gets mccain elected. They say that they are sure that they can win this election. It is going to be a long 91/2 days.

[forworldpeace]

And you and HuffPost take credit too Arianna, as do many blog sites, for providing a let out for many previously unheard of, ordinary citizens, to express their opinions, frustrations, anger and happiness.